Wednesday, September 21, 2011

1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (7) casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Observation:

The wonderful promise “He cares for you” (NKJV) reminds us of the night in the boat when the disciples asked Jesus, “Do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) Of course, Jesus cares! Satan would have these Christians, in our text, believe that their “fiery trial” was an evidence of God’s indifference; but Peter reminds them that they may “cast the whole of their care” (Mark 4:7) once and for all upon Christ.

Carrying your worries, stresses, concerns and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let others in God's family help you. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don't submit to circumstances but to the Lord, who controls circumstances.

Application:

One of the ways the devil is working today is to try to convince and persuade the Christian that God doesn't really care. That is what happened in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:5 when satan was tempting Eve. Eve said "we can't eat that fruit, for God said if we eat from it we would die." Satan said, "you will not surely die" but "God KNOWS that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God..." What was the tempter saying? That God really didn't care for them, He was only concerned about Himself. The enemy implied that God wanted to keep blessings from them.

Some things never change! That is still going on today. If the enemy can convince you that God doesn't really care, then you will not even take the time to pray. Why would you? If God doesn't care about you, He certainly won't LISTEN to your prayers, much less do anything about them. It is subtle, deceptive lie that the enemy uses on everyone.

BUT...God's Word says YOU can cast ALL your cares on Him BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU!

As we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, we should become increasingly dependent upon Him.

He has invited us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Peter's use of the word "all" is most interesting. He encourages us to cast all of our cares upon Him. For some reason, many of us Christians seem to be "sophisticated" about such things. Many have worked out quite an elaborate scheme regarding what kind of problems they should bring to the Lord. I have heard people say many times, "I don't bother God with my small problems. I only bring the big ones to Him."

God desires for us to be deeply dependent upon Him with all of our cares, sorrows, problems, needs, and questions and He is watching over us every moment of every day. He never takes a day off from watcing carefully.

Nothing is too big for God nor is anything too small. Our Lord cares for a single sparrow and knows the very number of the hairs of our heads (Luke 12:6-7). And He cares about our small problems as well as the large. He desires for us to be dependent upon Him, to trust in Him with all of our hearts, and to lean not unto our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

We should cast all of our care upon Him because "He cares for you" Think of it. God cares for you. He loves you. He delights in caring for you

In this verse, the word for "care" is mérimna, meaning "to be anxious about" or "to be concerned." God is interested in you; He is concerned about your needs. He cares for you.

We can never know true liberty, we can never be truly free until we cast our cares upon the Lord. A mark of maturity in the life of the Christian is to become increasingly dependent upon Christ. The more we depend upon Him, the more mature and free we become in Christ.

Prayer:

"Lord I am so thankful that You truly CARE for me. For ME...it is easy for me to acknowledge that You care for others, but today You have shown that You CARE FOR, WATCH OVER, CONCERN YOURSELF with ME. The Master of this universe, the Creator of this entire world and all of its beauty, cares deeply about ME. Wow, I am overwhelmed today. The enemy tries to tell me different, but I must constantly remember that he is a LIAR and the truth is not, not will be, nor can be, in him. So I must stop listening to his lies. I can take the oppostie of what he says and know that is the truth of the matter. So when the enemy says 'God doesn't care' that is a confirmation that God does care. I will turn the words of the liar around and use them for Your glory my Lord. Thank You for Your constant watch, attention and care. In Jesus' name, amen!"